I am in the process of building a kitchen in our old house and will be putting up a new load-bearing wall. When I took down the covering on the ceiling beams, I found this joint which I think looks anything but good... Both in terms of execution and especially the construction! If the part on the right wants to bend downwards, there is nothing to prevent it...
The load-bearing wall goes 5-10cm to the left of the joint. I'm considering 2 options to try to strengthen the joint:
1. Bend 2 flat irons into a U shape and screw them into both the upper and lower part of the joint. This way, at least the lower part is hanging on the upper.
2. Pull 1 or 2 carriage bolts through the joint and up into the attic. In the attic, I'm thinking of placing a beam on top of the beam for the bolts to go through. Is that needed? If so, how long should it be?
Is there any other more sensible solution? We want the beams to be visible, so just screwing a beam on each side is unfortunately not an option...
I'm sorry, but such an ugly joint isn't supposed to be visible, right?
Are you sure there's nothing else holding the joint together? Why doesn't it fall apart immediately?
A rule above with two bolts through the joint probably adds no extra strength at all.
If I were you, I would place long 2 by 6 pieces on each side of the beams, covering the joint, and nail them in firmly.
Well, the joint is not exactly beautiful... But since the other four beams will be visible in the room, it would be strange to have one beam with nailed-on battens. Something is probably holding the joint together today, but it's not visible. Or maybe the right section is just hanging from the attic floor?
Why wouldn't 2 bolts through the entire joint provide the strength needed? In the lounge, all the ceiling beams hang on bolts that go up to a "truss" in the attic instead of relying on a load-bearing wall. This construction has held for almost 200 years, so it can't be completely wrong...
Is it just a cold attic above?
Then you can have a joint beam and run some carriage bolts through, as you mentioned.
There isn’t significant load on the beam from the attic unless it's filled with heavy things.
Are you planning to place the new support wall approximately where the prop is visible to the left in the picture?
If so, you can set one or two (double) 2x8" on the attic, from the outer wall to the support wall over the now free-hanging beam. Whether one or two is needed depends on any load in the attic.
Don't forget to bind the two joint pieces lengthwise, as there are usually tensile forces in them from the roof trusses, (so the outer walls don’t bow out).
It is just a cold attic above and we will not use it for storage. The party wall will be placed between the post and the joint, so a stud from the outer wall to the party wall will work fine.
If I use a 2x8", I will need bolts that are 400-450mm long, where can I find that? Are they available at regular building supply stores?
